Between a Rock and a Hard Place - Hardcover

Carter, Alden R.

3.57

106 ratings by Goodreads

9780590486842: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0590486845 ISBN 13: 9780590486842

Publisher: Scholastic, 1995

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After losing everything they have during a trek through the wilderness, two boys, one of whom is a diabetic, must depend on their wits and courage in order to survive. By the author of Up Country and Dogwolf.

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From School Library Journal:

Grade 7 Up?Randy, 15, and his outdoorsy cousin Mark canoe into the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota. They are the third generation in their family to take this coming-of-age journey, and each boy harbors doubts. Mark feels completely inadequate compared to his older brother, and he isn't sure the girl he has been seeing will wait 10 days for him. Randy's parents seem to be just going through the motions of staying together; his diabetes may be the only glue holding them together. The first few days go well; then, in quick succession, a bear gets their food and rapids destroy their canoe, stripping them of most of their remaining supplies and equipment. Both are at the brink of death when Mark courageously struggles to bring rescuers to Randy, who has fallen unconscious in the woods. Both young men are interesting, multidimensional characters who face their problems (physical, mental, emotional) realistically and effectively. Their language, too, is realistically immoderate, both in their everyday conversation and in response to the extraordinary difficulties they face. In the end, they know they have grown stronger, and perhaps wiser. Readers who enjoyed Gary Paulsen's Hatchet (Macmillan, 1987), Ivy Ruckman's No Way Out (Crowell, 1988), and Thomas Baird's Walk Out a Brother (HarperCollins, 1983; o.p.) should revel in this survival tale.?Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Jr. High School, Iowa City, IA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Gr. 6^-9. Alden Carter has written the ultimate YA survival novel, one that will immediately come to mind when a reader requests another book just like Gary Paulsen's Hatchet. Mark and his cousin Randy set off on their family's traditional male rite of passage, a 10-day canoe trip through the Minnesota lake country. Neither approaches the trip with enthusiasm. Mark, hardly the outdoor type, is leaving a girlfriend, and Randy is a diabetic who, Mark believes, uses his illness to avoid work. Yet both realize that in order to survive this experience, they'll need to work together; to enjoy it, get along. And, after a few initial skirmishes, they do begin to relish both the trip and each other's company as they canoe, camp, fish, and outsmart lake, terrain, and even a bear--that is, until the bear outsmarts them, felling a tree that protects the boys' food pack, which is Randy's lifeline. Carter does a masterful job of creating disquieting tension as the boys become more and more content--and adroit--with themselves and with their camping skills. Readers will know that it can't last. It doesn't, and the boys and readers alike are plunged into a terrifying race for survival. Next stop: movie rights! Frances Bradburn

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